They announced Rs 10,000 crore for Hyderabad per year. However, what are they going to spend it on? As has been the trend for the last few years, they will be spending most of it on flyovers. Now, this is not going to help Hyderabad much.
They have not been strengthening public transport and have not shown any interest in strengthening pedestrian infrastructure. Around 500 people get killed while walking or crossing the road in Hyderabad. That is too high a figure for a city which claims to be a global city. This Rs 10,000 crore will further harm public transport.
Second they say Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for RTC. Are they going to spend it on meeting some of RTC’s financial deficits? Hyderabad badly needs 6,000 buses. After the recent strike, we have reduced 1,000 buses. Many people who live in the outskirts of the city are facing problems. The Rs 1,000 crore should be spent on procuring 2,000-3,000 in the fleet.
Thirdly, according to the arrangement for the MMTS Phase 2, the government of Telangana should bear two-thirds and the Central government should spend one-third. Now, for phase 2, railways claim they have spent more than their share. But the State government is not interested in releasing its own share. This shows their least concern for public transport.
Lastly, what I would like to stress on is that governments do not have much respect for what they show on paper at the time of budget presentation. Once the budget presentation is done, as per the diktats of the CM, amounts get transferred.
(The writer is professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies.)